The following are candidates in two separate races in the April 9 election who hadn't touched base with The Voice as of press time Monday in time for Tuesday's issue.

Craig F. Pierce is running for Bushnell-Prairie City Board of Education, and Macomb resident Jerry Cremer is running for a seat on the Spoon River College Board of Trustees.

Pierce

Why are you running for a seat on the school board?

I made the decision to seek a position on the B-PC School Board because I have a vested interest like all of us in our school system. Susie and I have raised three grown children that attended school here at B-PC.

Presently our two youngest sons are a sophomore and an eighth-grader. We also have three grandchildren that are students in the third, fourth and fifth grade. I want to ensure they have every opportunity to excel in academics, extra-curricular activities and hopefully all within our present B-PC School District 170.

What do you feel are the most important issues the school district is facing?

The most important issue(s) facing our school district is simply stated and premised on financing. In order to keep the integrity our schools and continue providing a quality education to our children, we must become creative and be able to provide the funding needed to sustain the costs of operation. I have extensive experience in dealing with and working with elected officials at the local level at the county and state levels. I believe we need to utilize any sources available to seek and receive the maximum funding available from all these sources.

Cremer

In an interview Tuesday, Cremer said among many things, he has been involved in the Macomb Education Foundation, the Western Illinois University Alumni Council and served two years on the SRC Foundation Board.

Why are you running for SRC BOT?

I'm currently involved in the college, as a member of the college foundation board. I'm on my second term there, and I served two years as chairman of that board. I think there's a lot of potential in Macomb. SRC has been good for Macomb and vice versa. We have businesses here where employees need training. I want to help develop the Macomb campus.

What is the biggest issue facing SRC?

The big issue for Spoon and everybody else is finances. There's not enough money to go around. (We) need to generate more money if we're going to expand and grow. It takes dollars to do that.

What are your concerns with the possible pension obligation shift?

That is an issue the board will have to address as time goes by as they find out what's going to happen. It's going to create more expenses — more for SRC and public schools and everybody else. It's going to be an issue that needs to be addressed. There's nothing that's set in stone, but we need to be prepared for it.

Page 2 of 2 - What is your position on bringing more workforce training to SRC?

It's becoming a big thing. People are displaced for whatever reason, and we're not only educating the HS grads now. We're bringing people back in from the workforce and training them to do different jobs.

If we can work with companies like Pella to train individuals, it's going to generate revenue for the college and help businesses in Macomb. Those are the things we need to develop further than what we've done today.